00:00New Mexico lawmakers on Monday passed legislation to launch a full investigation into what happened at Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch.
00:08The ranch, located about 30 miles south of Santa Fe, is where the late U.S. sex offender is accused
00:13of trafficking and sexually assaulting girls and women.
00:16The so-called Truth Commission seeks to identify ranch guests and state officials who may have known what was going
00:22on at the 7,600-acre property or taken part in alleged sexual abuse.
00:27It seeks testimony from survivors, and legislators are also urging local residents to testify.
00:33The Justice Department released millions of Epstein-related files that shed new light on activities at the ranch.
00:40The files revealed ties between Epstein and two former Democratic governors and an attorney general of New Mexico.
00:46Several civil suits accused Epstein of sexually assaulting girls at Zorro Ranch, locally known as the Playboy Ranch.
00:53He was never charged for the alleged offenses.
00:57Sigrid McCauley, whose law firm has represented hundreds of Epstein survivors, applauded the move, saying Zorro Ranch had been overlooked
01:04by federal investigations.
01:06Many of the survivors had experiences in New Mexico, and as we've learned, you know, there were local politicians and
01:13other people that were aware of what was happening in New Mexico.
01:16So it's really important that, at this point in time, a closer look is taken with respect to that property.
01:23The U.S. Department of Justice passed a request for comment to the FBI.
01:27The FBI declined to comment.
01:30Why hasn't an investigation been done into New Mexico at the depth and breadth of the other properties?
01:37That's a little unclear to me.
01:38I think that the focus in New Mexico, maybe because the activity wasn't as regular out there, that's why law
01:47enforcement in New York, where he spent a lot of time, may have focused.
01:51But it's certainly necessary.
01:53I mean, many of the survivors had experiences in New Mexico.
01:56And as we've learned, you know, there were local politicians and other people that were aware of what was happening
02:01in New Mexico.
02:02So it's really important that, at this point in time, a closer look is taken with respect to that property.
02:09These are all Epstein survivors.
02:12Teresa Helm, Annie Farmer, myself, and Virginia Giuffre.
02:22The allegations of abuse that have been made public relate to that type of conduct that Epstein regularly required her,
02:31and, frankly, others to participate in, which often was a massage that would then lead to sexual abuse.
02:38And that was pretty consistent in his pattern, in Jeffrey Epstein's pattern of how he interacted with people
02:44and how he required the girls to interact with other individuals that he lent them out to.
02:50Yeah, you know, it's so hard.
02:52I mean, I will tell you that there's not a day that goes by that I don't miss her tremendously.
02:58But she, you know, is always still inspiring me.
03:02Her spirit is all around.
03:09She was always trying.
03:11I mean, her whole mission was to bring light to what happened and to expose what happened.
03:16And, you know, she was assaulted many, many, many times, unfortunately, in New Mexico.
03:21And, you know, she's aware of others who were as well.
03:25And so I think for her, seeing New Mexico pay attention to this would be, you know, very important.
03:31The fact of the matter was that he was basically doing anything he wanted in this state without any accountability
03:39whatsoever.
03:40And the ranch that exists out near Stanley, New Mexico, is basically on a two-lane highway in the middle
03:49of nowhere.
03:50There's, it was him with an airstrip and a sprawling place that he brought folks to that we know very
03:58little, if nothing, about.
04:00And certainly not a lot that the news has reported on.
04:03And what has been reported on is nothing short of alarming.
04:13Well, one of the sort of accounts that sticks with me already is that he was a known sort of
04:20gallivander, ladies' man around town.
04:25They called his ranch the Playboy Ranch of Santa Fe.
04:38And so to think that this was happening for decades, that this predator was preying upon women, people in our
04:46community,
04:48is not only terrifying, it's just abhorrent that we couldn't turn every stone over at the time that he could
04:56be held accountable.
04:57And so for any sense of justice to be had, we have to tell the truth.
05:02We have to tell the story of what happened here.
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